Beamer, the AirPlay movie player for Mac that allows you to stream any movie file from your Mac to your Apple TV, has been recently updated to version 1.6.2 that brings a bunch of improvements and bug fixes. The developers promise Beamer is now more stable than ever.

What’s new in Beamer 1.6.2?

• Fixed an issue where audio would sometimes be muted for the remainder of the movie.
• Fixed an issue where some subtitles would be parsed incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where some movie files would not open (since version 1.6).
• Added the ability to report movie files that cannot be opened.
• Added support for MPL2 subtitles.
• Added support for audio-only movie files.
• Various performance, stability and cosmetic improvements.

Read our review of Beamer.

Beamer for Mac is sold at $15.00 and you can get it from here. A free trial (limited to the first 15 minutes of each video) is available from here. The app is currently on sale on MacUpdate Promo (25% off).

Beamer requires a Mac (2007 and up), OS X 10.6+ (Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion) and Apple TV (2^nd or 3^rd generation).

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

The Apple TV 2, Apple TV 3, iPad 2-4, iPhone 4-5, and some iPod touches have all shared one thing in common over the past few years and that one thing is AirPlay. Well, as of this year Apple has decided to updated its latest Mac OS X, Mountain Lion build, with support for the mirroring functionality as well. There is no arguing that AirPlay is one of the strongest growing features in Apple’s multimedia arsenal. For those of us who have the distinct pleasure of utilizing AirPlay to the fullest, we know that it is something everyone needs in their lives. That said, there is a large segment of the globe that is unable to take advantage of these features.

What about those of us who haven’t done the upgrade to the newest Operating System? What about those of us who have upgraded, but want to use AirPlay while still working on your Mac? What about those of us who have an amazing surround sound system and discover that the Mac’s AirPlay functionality only supports stereo? Well… your answer just may be in a tool for Macs known only as Beamer!

Beamer App For Mac (by Tupil) – Straight From The Source

Now you can play any movie from your Mac on Apple TV.

Features include:

• Drag, Drop, Watch

Drag any movie file onto Beamer and it will start streaming wirelessly to your TV with Apple TV instantly. No jailbreak required.

• No Conversion Needed

Beamer plays all (OK, almost all) movie files, so you don’t need to convert your videos. AVI, MOV, MKV, MP4, WMV and FLV files will play just fine.

• Wondering if it will support another File Format?

You can easily download the trial to test any obscure file format you may have. We strive to support as many movie files as possible. If you have a video that doesn’t work, we’d love to hear about it.

THE GOOD

Beamer could not be any easier to use or set up! It is important to note that I say this because there is NO SETUP! Users need only download the app and turn on their Apple TV. Yes, that is it. Now, in order to play a movie from your Mac to your Apple TV 2, or 3, you need only drag the file from your Mac and drop it in the window that appears when opening the Beamer application. Within seconds your Apple TV will be streaming your movie.

There are many benefits to Beamer that Mountain Lion’s implementation of AirPlay Mirroring does not account for:

1. With Beamer you can user your Apple TV Remote to control your movie. This includes all remote functionality such as Play, Pause, Skip, Fast-forward, and Rewind;
2. With Beamer you can continue to work on your Mac, as the Beamer app is “just another window” on your desktop;
3. With Beamer you can user your Apple TV’s complete audio setup. This means if you have a great surround sound system connected to your Apple TV, you can utilize it with your movie streaming;
4. With Beamer you can download and test the app before deciding to make the purchase.

THE BAD

I did have a somewhat poor experience with the app in two situations.

1. While the app handled all of the video formats I sent to it, I found that if I used larger .mkv files I wound up with very slow navigation.
   • As an example, when I played the 1080p release of BRAVE, by Pixar, I found that as I attempted to skip forward in the movie, my Apple TV would hang for a good 5 minutes or more while the App and the TV communicated.
2. In one instance (and only one) I found an .MP4 formatted video that would only play in intervals of 10 seconds, or so, at a time. Now, the app handled 3 other movies formatted in the exact same way so we can be sure it is not entirely and issue with its ability to read codecs. That said, the video does play via my Mac and AirPlay using Mountain Lion.

While I did have these two problems it is important to note that I did all of my testing while working on a 3MB connection speed, over a DSL line. This is not very good. So the fact is, this issue was likely caused by my internet connect more than the Beamer app itself. I would go as far as saying if you have at least a 6MB connection, this app will be smooth as butter… spread over your Apple TV.

THE UGLY TRUTH

In the end this app did exactly what it said it would do. Though the team behind the Beamer app is not trying to reinvent the wheel, they did find a way to do AirPlay without Apple’s supported method. To quote their reasoning for not being available in the App Store:

“It was turned down for using undocumented Apple technology. We use an undocumented way to talk to the Apple TV with AirPlay. While this is unsupported by Apple, it works well in practice.”

That aside, I was not disappointed with this app at all. There are many players in this field right now, but Beamer is by far the easiest option for users who have video content on their hard drive, or other local storage, and want to be able to share it on their Apple Televisions. All in all, if your set up is missing any of the features we have mentioned in this review, you should seriously consider Beamer. After all it is free to download and try.

Beamer for Mac is sold at $15.00 and you can get it from here. A free trial (limited to the first
15 minutes of each video) is available from here.

Beamer requires a Mac (2007 and up), OS X 10.6+ (Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion) and Apple TV (2^nd or 3^rd generation).

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

FireCore has just released an Apple TV supercharger – aTV Flash (black) 1.0, which features a new Media Player, Couch Surfer Pro web browser, Last.fm radio, Weather, RSS feeds and gives you fast access to plugins like nitoTV, Remote HD, XBMC and Plex client. Here is a detailed tutorial on how to install the new version of aTV Flash on both Mac and Windows.

How to install aTV Flash (black) on Apple TV 2:

Pre-install checklist

1. Jailbreak your Apple TV 2 running software version 5.0.1 (untethered)
2. Connect the Apple TV your TV like normal (power, HDMI and wifi/ethernet). An active network connection will be required (the ‘In Theaters’ option under ‘Movies’ should be visible).
3. Enable Home Sharing and AirPlay (Settings -> AirPlay)

Run the installer – Mac

Step 1: Download the latest version of aTV Flash (black) from your account.
Step 2: Open the DMG and double-click the installer.

Step 3: The installer will copy a few small files to your computer (these will then be transferred to the Apple TV).

Step 4: You will then be prompted to select your Apple TV from a drop-down list.

Step 5: The files will be transferred to the Apple TV.

Step 6: When complete, the Apple TV will restart automatically for the changes to take effect.

Step 8: After installation all apps and updates can be installed directly on the Apple TV through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

Run the installer – Windows

Step 1: Download the latest version of aTV Flash (black) from your account.
Step 2: Open the exe and choose a location to save the application (desktop is recommended).
Step 3: Run the aTV Flash (black) program.

Step 4: Select your Apple TV from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: The files will be transferred to the Apple TV automatically.

Step 6: When complete, the Apple TV will restart automatically for the changes to take effect.

Step 7: After installation all apps and updates can be installed directly on the Apple TV through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

You may also want to read:
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 5 (Apple TV 4.4) Using Seas0nPass – Tethered
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with Seas0nPass (untethered)
How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2
How to install XBMC on Apple TV 2

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV 2 is no longer in beta: FireCore has finally released version 1.0 of its flagship product – a suite of applications to enhance the 2nd generation Apple TV. aTV Flash (black) features all-new Media Player, WebKit based browser, Last.fm radio, Weather, RSS feeds and gives you fast access to plugins like nitoTV, Remote HD, XBMC and Plex client. All new features are installed alongside the normal Apple TV features, so things like movie rentals, Netflix, and AirPlay will remain unchanged.

Media Player
The new Media Player included with aTV Flash (black) can access files directly from a Mac, PC or NAS drive without having to use iTunes. It downloads and organizes metadata and covert art automatically and will present media in your choice of a list or grid view. Supported file formats include AVI, FLAC, ISO, M2TS, MKV, MP3, MP4, MPEG, VOB, WAV and many others. Support for AC3/DTS sound, subtitles, DVD menus, playlists and photo slideshows are also included.

Native web browser
Also included is Couch Surfer Pro; a fully featured web browser that includes support for HTML5 streaming music and video as well as easy to use bookmarks and history. The browser can be controlled using the standard Apple TV remote, or the free iPhone/iPad Remote app.

Last.fm
Rounding out the offering is an interactive Last.fm feature that provides access to Last.fm streaming radio. While streaming Last.fm radio (or playing your own music) you’ll have access to artist bios, and a seemingly endless amount of artist photos.

Weather, RSS feeds
RSS news feed and iIntuitive weather forecast options are also included. Your current weather location will be detected automatically, and other locations can be easily added as well.

aTV Flash (black)1.0 is available now for $29.95, which includes updates for one year. You can download it from here.

Those who pre-ordered the beta can download the new 1.0 version through the Downloads tab in their account. Note: Those wishing to update from an early version will need to run the 1.0 installer from a Mac or PC.

aTV Flash (black) 1.0 can be installed on AppleTV 4.2 and later. Before installing, the AppleTV will need to be jailbroken. Read How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 5 (Apple TV 4.4) Using Seas0nPass – Tethered or How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with Seas0nPass (untethered).

MacUpdate has aTV Flash (black) 1.0 for the sale price of $19.99 today only.

You may also want to read:
Apple TV 2 price drops suggest Apple TV 3 is coming soon
aTV Flash 4.4 for original Apple TV now available
How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2
Apple TV 4.4 Software Released

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!